Tennis: Djokovic Wins Fifth Rome Title

Djokovic, who only lost one match this year, due to disqualification in the round of 16 at the US Open for accidentally hitting a line judge, secured the 81st title of his career.

Schwartzman Surrenders

Schwartzman gave in after an hour and 53 minutes, following an excellent tournament in which he eliminated Spanish player Rafa Nadal, winner of the last two editions, in the quarterfinals.

It was also an unforgettable week for Schwartzman, who after early eliminations at the US Open against British player Cameron Norrie, and in Kitzbuhel, managed to defeat Nadal, a nine-time champion in Rome, and Canadian player Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals after a three-hour battle.

These achievements earned Schwartzman congratulations from his idol Diego Maradona: "Congratulations Peque Schwartzman!!! You play with a volleyball net and yet, you are in the final. For me, you are already a champion," the former Argentine player wrote on Facebook.

In fact, with his 170 centimeters, Schwartzman is the shortest player capable of reaching the final in a Masters 1000 tournament.

On the court, on the other hand, the challenge was enormous. He faced Djokovic, who was playing his tenth final in Rome and fighting for the 81st title of his career, the 36th in a Masters 1000, and who just surpassed his idol Pete Sampras with 287 weeks at the top of the ATP ranking.

The match couldn't have started better for Schwartzman, who broke Djokovic's serve twice and quickly took a 3-0 lead, while a little rain began to fall in the Italian capital.

The Serbian player, who had already shown signs of nervousness in recent weeks, showed his displeasure once again. After being disqualified at the US Open for accidentally hitting a line judge, smashing a racket in the quarterfinals in Rome, and having heated discussions with the umpire in the semifinals, this time he was annoyed at having to continue playing as the rain intensity increased.

"Is it raining? Seriously? I hadn't noticed," he said in English to his coach, Marian Vajda, while going to sit down with a 3-0 disadvantage, clearly intending for the umpire to hear him.

But Djokovic knows how to handle pressure, and after releasing his anger, he changed his mindset. He recovered the breaks and won four consecutive games to take the lead.

Schwartzman ended his drought and saved a set point at 4-5 on the scoreboard, but then lost his serve with a double fault included, losing the first set 7-5 in an hour and eleven minutes of play.

With the faith and commitment that marked his entire tournament, the Argentine player achieved a break to start the second set, but Djokovic immediately broke back and saved two more break opportunities with the score tied at 2-2.

That was the last chance Schwartzman had to try to change the destiny of the match. Djokovic raised the level of his shots significantly when he saw the finish line approaching and won his serve to love with 4-3, paving the way for the final score of 6-3.

Fifth Rome crown for Djokovic, who hadn't won on this clay court since 2015, and who will enter the Roland Garros with a record of 31 victories and only one defeat this season, determined to win his eighteenth Grand Slam title.